El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz to join mass for immigration reform

El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark J. Seitz and other bishops on Tuesday will celebrate a Mass on the Border in Nogales, Ariz. as part of a Mission for Migrants.

Seitz's trip is part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Migration's tour of the U.S. Mexico border Monday and Tuesday. The committee plans to have a news conference after the 9 a.m. Mass.

"When we can help make the rest of the country, both the church and the secular world a little bit more aware of the immigration issue from the standpoint of those who live it and those who know their story, it's very positive," Seitz said.

Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said on the committee's website that people tend to forget the human aspect of immigration in the debate.

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"Immigration is primarily about human beings, not economic or social issues," he said "Those who have died — and those deported each day — have the same value and innate God-given dignity as all persons, yet we ignore their suffering and their deaths."

Catholic officials estimate close to 6,000 immigrants have died in the U.S. desert since 1998. As a longtime priest, Seitz said working with immigrants, many from Latin America, has always been a part of his ministry.

"I've also had the joy of working in Latin America a little bit, in sister parishes in Mexico and Honduras. One of the reasons I wanted to go there was to understand why they come. I used to ask myself why a person would leave their home ... leave what they have behind to go to a place unknown and risk their lives," he said.

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He added, "It really helped me to see their situation... what I found was that people often not just live in poverty, but in misery and desperation. When they get sick, they have no place to turn. It's one thing when it's you that has an illness but what if it's your child? I came to understand the level of desperation that people have that would make them risk everything."

The participating bishops are following the example of Pope Francis, who traveled to the Italian island of Lampedusa on his first trip outside of The Vatican to remember African immigrants who died attempting to reach Europe. During his trip, Francis talked about the "globalization of indifference," according to the USCCB Committee website.

"The U.S.-Mexico border is our Lampedusa," Elizondo said on the organization's Web site. "Migrants in this hemisphere try to reach it, but often die in the attempt."

He also said, "We exhibit our own indifference when we minimize or ignore this suffering and death, as if these people are not worth our attention. It degrades us as a nation."

The gathering also comes after several bishops' and evangelical leaders' meetings earlier this month with congressional leaders. Pope Francis also recently met with President Barack Obama.

People can watch the Mass, led by the cardinal, streamed live Tuesday on YouTube. Catholics also are invited to unite in prayer in their own communities, to fast and take action for immigration reform by sending electronic postcards to members of Congress.